


Everything ends, then begins again

by GriffinTheMojaveWalker



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fuck Bahamut, Spoilers I guess????, Time Travel, being Ardyn is suffering, can this be legally called a drabble, ffxv is like three years old???, no beta we die like ravus, timeloop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-27 17:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20763920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GriffinTheMojaveWalker/pseuds/GriffinTheMojaveWalker
Summary: When Bahamut traps the world in a timeloop, Ardyn just gets tired of Godly Bullshit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For my absolutely amazing friend Stein, who listened patiently as I droned on about this AU :3
> 
> (title is from The Karma of Evil Will Not End by Akuno-P)

Everything ends with the clash of steel, and the assurances that weary souls can rest in peace.  
It ends with footsteps ascending stairs, of cries of pain as ghostly swords meet flesh and bone.  
It ends with the first rays of dawn in a decade.

And then, time seems to fold in on itself, erasing years of laughter and tears, of climactic battles and quiet moments of trust.  
And everything begins with four young men standing before a throne, waiting to set out into the wide world in which they inhabit.  
It begins with the words of the Draconian, declaring to himself that humanity was weak, that it needed to learn strength, and will, and how to combat the dark that threatened to swallow the lonely little star called Eos.

For most of the population, nothing ends or begins, it merely continues like any other day. Errands are ran, jobs are performed, no one the wiser to what will transpire time and time again.  
The memories and experiences still remain though, coalescing into one man, who has gone by many names throughout the eons.

Accursed. Adagium. Sage King. Chancellor of the Empire of Niflheim.

These days, he goes by the name of Ardyn Izunia.

For Ardyn, things had appeared normal at first. He rose from his bed, got dressed, rode to Insomnia, watched it fall, teased the Chosen King just a little bit...  
But then at the end, his senses giving away to everything but the quiet voice telling him that it's over, that he's done his part. That he can perhaps be happy once again...  
And he reawoke in Gralea, still awaiting the summons to board the airship and make the trek to Lucis' capitol.  
And he did. Again, and again, and again.

The fiftieth time this happened, Ardyn merely sighed and rolled over in bed, not even bothering to open his eyes and scan the room.  
Everything was exactly how he left it when it all came about. Everything occured on time, down to the tentative knock at the door after 15 long minutes had passed.  
Down to the tones everyone's voices took when departing, down to the facial expressions worn by the Emperor and High Commander. Down to the exact amount of MTs needed to overwhelm the Lucian forces.  
Even down to the exact time it took to steal the Crystal while everyone was distracted.

Ardyn could accurately predict what everyone would say, and he used that to have a bit of fun on one particular loop. (The look of confusion and aggravation that washed over Ravus' face was worth it.)  
But that soon wore thin, so he began to experiment, see what he could get away with since time would reset itself.  
He burned books, made enemies, he strangled one of the Brigadier Generals just to see what would happen. And what did, was that he reawoke like nothing took place as soon as the general breathed his last.  
His frustration mounted, and he wreaked worse destruction each time it reset, racking up a dozen do-overs of carnage and death alone.

But that was then, when he still cared. Now, he just goes through the motions, playing his part like a stringed puppet, saying what he needed to say, doing what he needed to do.

Now, he's just tired.

Now, he waits for the Chosen King to figure out how to stop the cycle, to figure out how to free everyone.

Soon, he can rest. But not this time.


	2. This too, is another prologue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardyn gets fed up and relays the truth to Noctis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh man this is longer than I expected, here y'all go
> 
> Also special thanks to Stein once again :3

The only sound in the throne room is the footsteps of four people, confident that they will win whatever lie ahead.  
Above, illusory corpses in the visage of loved ones and past enemies dangle like sick reminders of everything lost.

King and Oracle. Glaive and Emperor. Faces locked in agony as false scourge ran down and silently hit the floor below.

One figure walked slowly to where he stood ten long years prior, and gazed up at his destiny.

"Off my chair, jester. The king sits there."

Noctis sneered at the man currently sat on the throne, who strangely did not move a muscle, as if he were as dead as the city outside.  
Suddenly, with a quiet sigh, Ardyn lurched to his feet, unable to look Noctis and his cohorts in the eye at all.  
Without a single word, Ardyn slowly walked to a large hole blown in the wall, threw a sword and vanished from sight.

Noctis gave slight pause at his arch nemesis' total silence, before his companions urged him to run and deal with the Accursed.  
With a nod, Noctis ascends the stairs and follows Ardyn out of the Citadel to the wrecked streets below.  
Out on the streets, past burnt out cars and crumbling buildings, charred logs that resembled trees and torn up asphalt, Ardyn stood alone.

With a bit of careful aiming, Noctis warped over and slammed Ardyn right in the back, sending both men tumbling to the ground.  
Ardyn simply laid there. There was not a thing he could do that he hadn't done already. There was not a thing he could say that he hadn't said already.  
Threats, Lies, Attempts to get Noctis to realize what was truly happening, Pleas, it all fell flat in the end.

"What's wrong with you?! Stand up and fight!"

Ardyn sighed and stood up. Noctis was angrily brandishing the Sword of the Father. Wearily looking from weapon to wielder, Ardyn finally opened his mouth.

"Isn't it tiring? to come so far, only to find disappointment at the end of the road?"

"What are you talking about?"

Noctis lowered the sword, but did not call it away.

"What I am referring to, is knowing how things play out, yet being unable to alter its course. To watch as your efforts are paid off with happy endings and a new sense of hope."

"Paid off? Wh-what does that mean?! What do you know?!"

Ardyn looked reluctant, but finally shared everything he knew. All the times he's watched everything unfold before his eyes. Every single instance of this final battle. The wins, the losses, and of course, what came after.  
Noctis let his weapon vanish, as he stared at Ardyn with a mixture of disbelief and despair.

"How? Why? What does this solve?"

"I'm not sure, but I know that if we fight, this will all repeat, perhaps into infinity."

Noctis sank to his knees as tears streamed down his face.

"What do the Six get out of this? All this misery, for what?"

Ardyn sat down across from Noctis, and leaned forward.

"I'm not sure if it was the work of the collective Six, you see. The others, capricious they may be, they do not hold so much disdain for humanity."

Noctis met Ardyn's blank stare.

"You think it was... Bahamut? Why? What does he have to gain from this?!"

"I'm not sure. And I don't know how to fix it."

"Can we fix it? Can this... be fixed somehow?"

Ardyn appeared thoughtful for a moment, but then shook his head.

"If it could be fixed, then I have tried. But alas, here we are."

"You've tried everything? Even killing me instead?"

"Yes, I have. Even the both of us killing the other at the same time."

Noctis summoned his sword again, and studied the blade closely.

"You've tried that too." Ardyn said with a sigh.

Noctis set the sword aside, and put his head in his hands. "What can we do, then?"

Ardyn didn't have an answer. He merely got up and held his hands out as if he was showing off his clothes.

"What are you-"

"I suppose the only thing left is to simply do what the gods wish."

"You're sure?"

Ardyn nods once, then closes his eyes. Noctis slowly got up, with sword in hand, and with one swift move, plunged it straight into Ardyn's chest.  
He gave one gasp of pain, then fell back, the rain falling silently around them.

"I'm truly sorry." Was all he had time to say before his body vanished into smoke, and Noctis was standing alone.

Footsteps echoed throughout the throne room as four people approached the man sitting above them all.


	3. In the end, have we left something behind?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardyn finally gains the means to thwart Bahamut once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final chapter! hope y'all liked reading!
> 
> Also again, very special thanks to Stein for helping me get the courage to write. 
> 
> (Chapter title from Master Of The Heavenly Yard by Akuno-P)

The next time he had the opportunity to, Ardyn set out on his own to contact the other gods to see if they could be of even a small amount of help.

Ifrit was immediately out of the question, as was Leviathan. Ardyn doubted the former could even speak anymore, and the latter would take far too much effort to even summon, much less seek her guidance...  
Plus there was the risk of the timeline resetting before he had a chance to reach Altissia in the first place.

Titan came next, and the stubborn god gave no clues, no help, and had even tried to crush Ardyn when he pressed the issue. (Ardyn made a mental note to never try and contact Titan for anything again.)  
Next, came Ramuh, who was a challenge and a half to even reach. Angelgard was surrounded by unusually choppy waters which made boating to it nearly impossible, Airships seemed to drop from the sky if approached that way, and even swimming threatened to drown the immortal.  
After a half dozen failed tries, Ardyn finally washed ashore and with a quick attempt at a dryoff, sought out the Fulgurian. Merely even being on Angelgard again proved difficult as almost incapacitating headaches plagued Ardyn with every step, every moment, until he finally got the audience he wanted.  
Sadly, Ramuh proved to be no help as well when he revealed that he too tried to shatter the loop, only to fail time and time again. Until he stopped trying. Seeing no other options, Ardyn threw himself into the sea to purposefully trigger a reset, and set about ifnding his last option.

Shiva.

After a bit of digging, Ardyn learned that while Shiva was dead (and had been for years), her messenger Gentiana was living in Tenebrae as a guide to the Oracle.  
When Ardyn met the messenger, he was at least delighted to learn that Shiva was still technically active, and after a long discussion on what Bahamut's motives were, his reasonings for making the loop and planning on how to break it, they agreed to team up and forged a pact, on the condition that the Oracle be saved as well, which Ardyn wholeheartedly complied on.  
With another forced reset, the plan went into motion.

The first step was simple: Save the King of Lucis. 

Step one went off without a hitch, as General Glauca, even with his enhanced strength and state-of-the-art Magitek Armor, could not withstand the might of two gods and a determined Accursed.

Step two was to ensure Lunafreya's continued life, which was even easier considering all Ardyn had to do was simply not stab her during Leviathan's attack on Altissia.

Step three, in comparison, was harder as Ardyn had to make sure Noctis' advisor didn't die from the strain the the Ring of the Lucii put on him, but even that succeeded in a way.

Step four was simply to wait until the final battle came, and when it did, Ardyn fought with a renewed hope in his heart that all his efforts would lead to victory.

And it didn't. The sun rose once again on Insomnia as Prince Noctis and his friends started their journey.  
Adding insult to injury, Bahamut had gone one step further and trapped Ardyn in the Crystal while a double of himself played out the story like he should have.  
This went on for three more loops until Ardyn begged to be released and played his part with no emotion whatsoever.

Shiva, on the other hand, was furious at her fellow god. She went and confronted him, only to learn that their every effort was pointless, as he would thwart them by resetting the loop.  
When Shiva finally tracked down Ardyn and delivered this news to him, he nearly broke completely, until he heard that their efforts inside the loop were pointless.  
He proposed going back to before the loop began, and editing events to ensure the loop never begins in the first place.

"Surely the Accursed knows the consequences?"

Ardyn chuckled. "You don't think I know what will happen?"

It took another 10 loops before they had the chance to send Ardyn back, far before the loop ever began.  
He knew the destination, A far off lab in Gralea, on January 16th, M.E. 721.  
There, he took the appearance of a guard, and when no one was looking, he took his frustrations out on the entire space, wreaking as much havoc as possible, making sure any records of himself were ruined beyond all hope of saving.  
Having sufficiently burnt the place to cinders, he set out on his other plan, making sure only the Chosen King could reach him at the allotted time.  
Arriving at Angelgard was the easy part, there he just had to seal himself into his tomb for another 30 or so years. Channeling all his power, all his strength, he cast a magic seal that could only be broken by a member of the Lucis Caelum line.

At that final action, Ardyn faded. His life altered enough to where he could no longer conceivably exist.

45 years later, a man is given the rest he deserves at last, and dawn shines down on Eos, bathing ruins in warmth and peace. At the steps of the Citadel, three men stand and watch the sunrise.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the blocking this is my first legit fic


End file.
